Alan Zuschlag wasn’t always a shepherd. A typical Washington, DC yuppie, Alan worked in a number of government and international organization jobs that kept him travelling the world for most of his career.

But by his mid 30s, he felt the need to put down some roots, and as he put it, “feel connected to something more than a city neighborhood.”

Touchstone Farm in Rappahannock County, Virginia, started out as a weekend escape from city pressures and as a part-time project on a small 25 acre plot. Alan told Humane Farm Animal Care, “I started out thinking I would only be out in the country on weekends. I wanted grazing animals on my pastures, but because I wouldn’t be there every day, I wanted animals that could thrive with a minimum of attention.” By researching various breeds of sheep, Alan hit upon the Clun Forest breed as one which would fit his requirements of hardiness, low maintenance, and the ability to thrive on grass. Six years later, Alan lives on the farm full-time, not just on weekends, and the farm has grown from 25 to 100 acres, but both his breed of sheep and farm management style have remained constant. “The Clun Forest breed is ideally suited to my grassfed farming operation,” Alan said, “They are really easy keepers, undemanding, and produce meaty flavorful lambs.”

Since 1996 Alan’s flock has been happily grazing in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The sheep at Touchstone Farm enjoy lush green pastures of orchard grass, rye grass, clover, native herbs and forbs, and pure spring water piped directly from springs on the farm.

Touchstone Farm does not feed any antibiotics or growth supplements, or any type of processed food to its flock.

According to Alan the key to Touchstone Farm lamb’s sought-after flavor is that they are grown on such rich mixed pasture, and that they are raised on a rotational grazing system which moves them to fresh new pasture every few days. The lambs grow wonderfully on this system and reach market weight in six months on grass alone. Lambs are sold to individual customers only and are never shipped to feedlots.

Lamb continues to be the farm’s primary product. At first, Alan sold lamb to friends and colleagues and relied on word-of-mouth to gain new customers. Business grew rapidly. Now Alan handles lamb orders through a farm website which allows for on-line ordering.

Touchstone Farm offers custom cut lamb in the Washington DC metropolitan area only. Spring lamb is available from March through May and fall freezer lamb is available from September through October. Half and whole lamb packages are processed to customer specifications and can be ordered at www.touchstonefarm.org